Museum in USA hosts Diwali event with Odissi, Sambalpuri dance

Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Boston, the fourth largest museum in USA, hosted Diwali event on Odisha Arts & Culture.

There were spectacular performances on Odissi Classical Dance and Sambalpuri Folk Dance by local artists of New England area, followed by video presentations on rich cultural heritage of Odisha, India.

For the first time in the USA, this museum celebrated its Diwali event on 2nd November in partnership with The Odisha Society of the Americas (OSA).

Odissi Classical Dance, Maana Udharana, based on the famous poem written by Kabi Samrat Upendra Bhanja in 16th century, was presented by Jayashree Kar Mohapatra of Noopur Dance Academy with local artists Arya Mohanty, Priyanka Nanda, Sneha Mahapatra & Shruti Nanda in front of Lord Jagannath idols.

Anindita Nanda of Soortaal School of Dance & Music performed Odissi dance Megh Pallavi and Suchilagna Panigrahi of Nrityasadhana performed Basanta Pallavi. Sambalpuri folk dance on Mitrabhanu Gauntia’s Rangabati was performed by Sangya Padhi, Rupali Das, Aneesha Mahapatra, Sushree Kar & Reema Mohanty.

There was also a photo exhibition on Odisha temple architectures on Konark Temple, Sri Jagannath Temple, Sri Lingraj Temple; Buddhists monuments of Ratnagiri, Raghurajpur Pattachitra, Palm leaf engraving and painting, Odisha hand woven textiles (Gitagovinda Pheta), Cuttack Filigree work, Pipili Applique work, Ganjam Horn craft, Chitta wall painting (Mural art), Dangaria Kandha, Lanjia Soura Tribal art, Terracotta art, Stone sculptures, Wooden mask paintings, and Sand art.

The museum had also other programs on Indian arts and culture for the celebration of Diwali. By seeing the huge crowd and enthusiastic involvement of the audience, the program director of MFA Mrs. Linda Apple mentioned that this event is one of the best program recently.

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